The Menace
by J Bear
Summary: *Updated!* Voyager is attacked by space pirates and takes the senior crew for hostage. They then rely on another man who is also held captive and who claims to know a certain member of the crew to escape. Is this man their friend or their menace?
1. The encounter

_A Saturday morning at the park, the sun was shining, there was enough cloud in the sky for a tiny bit of shade, and there was a light breeze was blowing by. The day could not start off any better than this._ She thought. A familiar voice then rang through the air, interrupting her thoughts.

"Tuvok to Janeway" the voice said 

Sighing the woman reach with her right arm and tapped on the badge she was wearing on the left of her chest. "Janeway here, what is it Tuvok?"

"We have just received a distress call approximately 5.5 lightyears away."

_So much for nice Saturday morning…_ Captain Kathryn Janeway thought 

"Alright Tuvok, set a course, I'm on my way." She said and tapped her badge again. 

_One day, maybe I'll just take up the Doctor's advice and get a couple of days off to relax. _She considered as she walked down the sidewalk. _But then again, I'll miss everything. And I'll prove the doctor right… that's no good._

She drew a deep breath and sighed. "Computer, end program"

Her surroundings then faded into a yellow and black floor with silver walls lined with metallic pipes. That Saturday morning in the park then turned into a Saturday morning in the Delta Quadrant on her starship USS Voyager, thousands and hundreds of thousands away from Sector 001 --- Earth. 

When she reached the bridge, she barked "Report!"

"We are approaching the coordinates. We should be in visual range right about… now" Ensign Harry Kim replied.

"On screen" Janeway ordered. The vessel was venting plasma and it looked like someone had done a lot of damage to this vessel. "Lifesigns?" she asked

"No life signs." Harry said, "Wait a minute, the ship's powering up. They're charging weapons!"

"Shields!" 

It was too late, the weapon had hit the ship and it rendered the entire crew unconscious. 

***

_Ugh… my head…_ Janeway thought and tried to push herself up. She blinked twice only to find her crewmen staring over her. _The crew!_

"It seems Captain, they only took the senior officers." Said Commander Chakotay, Janeway's XO

"Alright people. Any ideas where we are? And where the rest of the crew is?" she questioned. With a look around, she could see her senior staff. Tuvok, Chakotay, B'Elanna, Harry and Tom

"I'd say we are on a m-class planet about 2 lightyears from our last position." Lieutenant Tom Paris spoke up, "I saw it on the navigational charts before they fired on us."

"But why did they fire on us?" The chief engineer, Lt. B'Elanna Torres was enraged.

"Because." a new voice surfaced; A voice that the senior officers has never heard before. 

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Harry was alert scanning the room for other people other than themselves. 

A person then came out of the shadows in a dark brown cloak. The person had the hood on so you could not see its eyes. All you could see was the nose and the mouth. Their hands were clasped together in the front. "Because they wanted your ship. That vessel you encountered was a pirate ship. They steal different ships with enormous power and use it to steal other things. It's no wonder they took Voyager, after all, it is the most advanced starship in all of Federation history. Plus, there were crew onboard." From the voice, they figured that it was a male.

Shocked, the crew was curious to know how he got all this information. After all, they have never seen him before.

"Who are you?" asked the Captain "I demand that you explain how you got that information and reveal yourself!"

"Oh you demand now eh Kathryn?" the cloaked person asked. "You were always constantly demanding things even when you were little, the sad fact is that we have to reunite back here in the Delta Quadrant on this God forsaken planet with little rations and resources."

"Do I know you?"

"You should, after all, we did grow up together, unless of course, you have forgotten me entirely."

The rest of the crew was just utterly shocked. Their jaws slacked and hanged. The mysterious being knew their captain and Voyager. 

Janeway swallowed. _Who could it be? Everyone is back home, I know no one from my Academy days or from my hometown here. Who the hell could this guy be?_

"Heh, you still don't know me eh Katie, well… I--- " The being was cut short when a guard came along and came into the cell, looking for something.

"I would suggest you leave them alone, Garan." The being spoke softly, "They're no use to you."

"Then maybe you would co-operate." Snarled the guard

"Co-operate? With you? Fat chance." he chuckled

The being could see that were infuriating the guard, Garan.

"Why you…" and launched himself at the being. But the guy knew what was happening and readied for what was going to happen. When the guard reached him to tackle him, he used the guard's own strength against him and threw the guard right into the air and kicked his stomach just when he was going to hit the floor like a soccer ball. The guard slammed face first onto the wall. Before the guard had a chance to steady himself, the being was on him again. This time the hand had a death grip on his neck. Garan could feel him breathing down his neck and whisper softly in his ear. 

The senior staff was just amazed at the speed in which this person moved. They could also see that he was at least 2 feet shorter that Garan, the guard. This… being … was a force to be reckoned with. 

The being let go of his neck. Scared, Garan stumbled back and rushed to the forcefield to deactivate it and leave. B'Elanna saw the opportunity of escape and followed Garan. She hit him in the back once and he fell down unconscious. 

The forcefield was down. They could escape. 

A smile crept onto his face. "Good work…"

"I think we should get out of here." B'Elanna stating the obvious

"Will you be accompanying us… er…" asked Janeway wondering how to address the being

He kept smiling and nodded.

They quickly ran out of the holding cell in hopes of getting their ship and its crew back. 

A laser shot fired across Seven's shoulder. They looked back, the guards were right behind them, all of them were 7 to 8 feet, towering over each of the member of the senior staff. The guards were quickly catching up to them. _That would explain why the tunnels are so large… _Tom thought. Suddenly, a hand grabbed Harry Kim by the neck and lifted him up. B'Elanna ran up to the guard and tried to take him down. But the phaser fire was getting too intense. 

"Surrender, or this one dies." Growled the guard.

"I'm sure we can come to some kind of reasoning ---" Janeway was cut off by more phaser fire. This time directed at her, missing her by mere centimeters. 

Harry was hatching a plan in his mind while the Captain was trying to negotiate with the 8 foot guard. _I can almost reach the dagger on the left side of his belt. Just a little more…_ Then he reached out and quickly grabbed the dagger, jabbing it into the guard's stomach. As the guard fell, Harry landed on his butt with an "oomph". 

"Let's go!" said the mysterious man.

Seven saw something shining from one of the tables and went closer to look and found it was their commbadges and 2 weapons. "Captain!" the borg shouted and threw a weapon to Chakotay and Janeway and handed the commbadges to everyone… almost everyone… 

"Time to go!" the being shouted "They are RIGHT behind us, let's move."

As she ran, Janeway tapped her commbadge. "Janeway to Voyager."

After a while, it responded. "Voyager here Captain, it's good to hear from you again."

"No time for pleasantries, 7 to beam up." Then they found themselves surrounded by pirates, including on very angry Garan. Garan gave the order to attack and the 7 disappeared into thin air. 

=/\=

The 7 of them reappeared in the transporter room on Voyager. Immediately, Janeway and the others went to the bridge to see what was going on. 

"Captain on the bridge!" said Lt. Rowlings

"At ease." Janeway replied. "Report!"

"We took the ship back from the pirates since we knew where everything is, and the fact that there were more of us than them."

"Good job Lieutenant."

Everyone took to their stations. Tuvok at Tactical, right of the Captain; Harry at Operations, Tom took the pilot seat and B'Elanna went back to Engineering to check on the warp core. Chakotay took the seat to Janeway's left.

Everything was back to normal. Except… 

"Captain? I've just realized" Tom piped up, "How did he know that my name was Tom?"

She turned back to see him again. He wasn't there anymore. Janeway looked around for a few seconds before facing the viewscreen again. "Alright Lieutenant, take us out. Maximum warp. Engage. Tuvok, you have the bridge." She signaled to Chakotay to follow her into the Ready Room. 

"Any ideas who he is?" Chakotay was curious

"I have no idea. But I have a feeling we're about the find out."

"Janeway to Doctor. Status."

"Our… guest is officially declared healthy. He's requesting to speak to you." The ship's chief Medical Officer reported.

"Understood. I'll be right there. Janeway out." She turned to her first officer "care to join me?"

"After you."

=/\=

"The patient is doing quite well captain. No diseases or viruses as I have told you over the comm. But I must admit, he seems a bit… hungry." The holographic doctor said.

"That's understandable." She looked at him, or the back of him. He still had his cloak on but his hood was down. He had jet-black hair, a thick neck and broad shoulders as she could see. 

"Kathryn." He acknowledged

"Turn around. Let me see you." she urged

"Take a guess."

"I'm in no mood for games. Turn around. That's an order!" she whispered through her clenched teeth. 

"Fine." The man turned around and shook his head. "Always the boss..."

The face registered into Janeway's brain. He was a handsome man with a moustache and a goatee, dark blue eyes and thick eyebrows, an aristocratic nose. "Max…" she croaked

"I'm glad you remember Kat." He walked closer to her. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "It's been a long time."


	2. Max

Janeway couldn't believe her eyes. He was here. Right here in front of her.  "My god… Max!" she gave him a hug, but then remembering that there are other people in the room, she quickly withdrew. This man she called Max was now sporting a grin, which expanded from ear to ear. 

"It's good to see you too old friend."

=/\=

Janeway called a staff meeting that same day in the holodeck to introduce the newest Voyager crewmember to the senior staff. Tom suggested using his "good ol' Sandrines program" and Janeway agreed. The meeting was set and the staff waited in anticipation to see the man who rescued them from the space pirates.

The group sat in the middle of the room, having a few laughs and drinks with the exception of Tuvok and Seven of Nine, the former borg drone, who was engrossed in the PADD they had in their hands. They also speculated on whom the man was- rumours were going around the ship that he was the Captain's long lost lover to that he was Janeway's nemesis when Janeway and the man walked in.

"Alright. I'd like you to meet our newest crewmember, Commander Maximillius Dawson." She looked at him wryly as she said the word Commander.

He gave her the evil eye and turned the group. "Call me Max. Everyone does. Kath--- The Captain here has stripped me of rank and made me a Commander even though I out right suggested that I take up Captaincy of this ship and help her out a little but nooooo, she had to get competitive and take away a pip."

The staff liked him already.

They briefed him on the crew and the quirks of the ship, told him stories of themselves and what jams they have been in and reminisced on the past years on Voyager. Max was almost sorry that he didn't catch up with them earlier. He also noticed that this was a very tight group. Just when things were starting to get embarrassing for the Captain, she dismissed the crew. Everyone laughed and went on their merry way, everyone except the Captain and Max.

"So… what did you think of the rumour of us being looovers?" he questioned jokingly

"That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. You? And Me?" She replied, "No way."

"Remember that time when we pretended we were to make Cheb mad?"

"How could I forget? He got so mad!" she laughed and then getting serious again, "I'm glad you're here Max."

"Ditto." He added.

"Now if you would excuse me, I've got PADDS piling up." Janeway smiled, "and you Commander, has an early shift tomorrow. I suggest you get some rest."

"Aye, aye Captain."

=/\=

_It was dark. He couldn't see. There was nothing, nothing at all. All he could sense is the smell of burnt flesh, feel the insane impulse to run, to hide. A blinding flash envelops him. There was a green hue surrounding him. _Where am I?_ He thought. A Klingon, with an eyepiece over his head, stares at him blankly. A borg. Another bright flash surrounds him. A scalpel was coming towards him. He could feel the steel touching his face—_

_"NO!" _ Max screamed, bolting awake. It's happened again. _Someone make the nightmares stop. Please._ He thought. 

He tried to calm himself down so he layed back on his bed, deep in thought.

BEEP!

The door chime bolts Max out of his reverie. Taking a deep breath, he said groggily. "Come in." 

"Aren't you just cheery this morning." She said with a chuckle. "I don't know how you did things over on your ship but on Voyager, my crewmen get to their stations on time."

"What time is it?"

"0805"

"WHAT?" Max immediately sat up and rushed to the bathroom, pops his head out the doorway. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"I called you several times. When I got no response, I came here. I figured you woke up late."

Mumbling and grumbling curses he hastily put on his uniform coat and raced out the door with Janeway.

"Thanks…" Max said glancing at his commanding officer. They both were walking quickly through the corridors.

"Any time." Janeway replied when they reached the turbolift. "Just don't make a habit out of it. You're answering to me now…"

"How could I forget?" Max smiled wryly. "Bridge."

=/\=

"B'Elanna says that the warp core can be at maximum efficiency by 0800 tomorrow. No earlier. The weapons systems and shields are online and at 100% efficiency." Chakotay reported to his commanding officer. 

He took a look around. The ready room. After so many bumps and scrapes along the road, the ready room was still just like the first day he saw it. As usual, the stars are streaking by in the viewport, Captain Janeway is seated behind her desk looking at her personal console, reading up on the latest sensor readings and reports. And after so many years, his Captain is still drinking that damned black coffee he tried so hard to get her to quit. 

"Very good." Janeway said indulging herself in her coffee. "Anything else?"

"Neelix is holding a party for our newest member of the crew." Chakotay handed a PADD to Janeway. 

"You going?" she asked scanning the PADD her first officer just gave her.

"Depends. Are you?"

"Well I've got a lot of---"

BEEP

"Come in." she called

"Hey! I—" Max saw Chakotay standing there. "Oh I'm not interrupting anything am I? I can come back later."

"Nope, you're not interrupting anything. Just talking about the party Neelix is planning." Janeway smiled. Seeing her old friend again has brought back a lot of old memories. 

"Yah Max, it's in your honour, so are you going?" Chakotay inquired

Dawson grinned. He walked up to the replicator and called for a beverage. 

"Coffee. Black." He barked. Max took a sniff at his coffee he was holding, letting the aroma fill his senses. 

Chakotay's eyes widened. "I can't believe this. You taught him to drink coffee?"

"Actually it was the other way around." Janeway chuckled "He taught me."

"So I've got Max to thank for your dependence on coffee."

"That's right" they both replied at the same time. 

"And there's nothing else in the world quite like coffee." Dawson added.

"Then perhaps you can teach Kathryn here to go to the party and relax for one day."

"Gladly." Commander Dawson walked towards the Captain and whispered something in her ear. Chakotay wouldn't believe his eyes. He had never seen Kathryn like this before. She looked like a little girl with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression.

"You wouldn't." she stared at him with mock horror. 

 "You bet I would. And you know it too." Max nodded with a twinkle in his eye. 

"Very well then." Janeway then looked to her First Officer, "I'm going to Neelix's party." Then turned to Max again. "Satisfied?"

Maximillius grinned from ear to ear like a little boy on Christmas day.

=/\= =/\= =/\= =/\= =/\=

Did you like it? Did you not like it? Do you have ANY suggestions? Any at all? What? Give me a review. R&R because this is my first fanfic. It's been stuck in my head for a while and I wanted to get it out.


	3. Time to PARTAY!

A short little chapter, I hope you all like it. 

The crew was gathered for a Hawaiian party, courtesy of a certain Lt. Tom Paris. Neelix was of course forbidden to bring Leola Root, so he took the liberty of accessing Tom's database to find 20th century party foods and snacks. Punch, Chips, beer and cocktails appeared to be the right choice so he replicated a couple of the choices listed on the screen. 

The honoree of the night, Commander Maximillius Dawson, came into a roomful of conga dancing, cocktail drinking, rowdy party animals, which was formerly the crew of Voyager. The gave him a huge round of applause and whoops and hollers. 

Kathryn Janeway sat at the bar and smiled. The crew was reacting so well to the newest addition to her crew. Bringing Max to the crew seemed to brighten everyone's spirits and raise moral, even her. Come to think of it, she had been so overcome by reports, attacks and work to have fun. Max, reminded her of fun. The fun times they had as kids, like the time they pretended to command a shuttle into space, or playing tag through the tall corn stalks at the Dawsons backyard. 

Commander Chakotay looked around and saw Kathryn looking at Max. No… more like staring at Max. He felt a little uneasy about it so he went over to the Captain.

"Kathryn! When did you get here?" Chakotay asked as he sat down next to her.

"A while ago. I slipped in…" she replied "They're reacting so well to him don't you think Chakotay?"

"It's hard not to like someone like that." Chakotay took a glance at the man they were talking about. "I mean, he's got a great personality, friendly, generous, nice, I even heard rumours about some of the women on the ship having a crush on him."

"Well, he's always been this way. Excuse me for a second Chakotay. Seven needs a little lesson on 'mingling'."

Commander Dawson reached the bar and called for a martini. "Hey Chakotay. Enjoying the party?"

"We haven't partied like this for months!" Chakotay said.

"Care for a drink?"

"I'll have a punch." He told the bartender. "So what did you tell the Captain to get her to agree to come here?"

"I just simply said, 'If you don't go then I'll tell everyone that---' " 

"Mr Dawson!" Neelix interrupted "I'm glad you're here!"

"Thank you Neelix. I'm glad to be here."

"Would you like to try some of these 20th century confections? They're actually quite tasty." Neelix shoved a bowl of rounded yellow crispy things in Max's direction

Gingerly, Max took one and ate it. "You're right Neelix, they are quite good."

"Care for one Commander?" He then shoved it in Chakotay's direction

"No thanks Neelix, what are these things anyway?"

"They're called chips." Tom Paris piped up, appearing out of nowhere in particular. "20th century people use to eat these at parties and such. They were a big hit in those days."

"I'll bet it was." Max said in return, grabbing some more 'chips' from Neelix. "Whoops, excuse me, I've gotta ask someone to dance."

"Never got how he got the Captain to the party?" Tom Paris asked Chakotay when Max had left.

"Nope, he was just about to tell me. But he saw the chips."

"Ah I see…" Tom saw how distressed Chakotay looked and how he was staring at the dancing couple, Commander Max Dawson and Captain Kathryn Janeway. _Poor guy, why doesn't the Captain see that he likes her… he LOVES her? Stupid protocol, never cared for it much._ Tom thought. _He must be jealous as hell. _He glanced briefly at the new Commander. __

Janeway was having the time of her life. Conga dancing, an old friend found, the crew happy and satisfied, the ship was running normal again, no anomalies to deal with, no borg, just a simple fun party to relax at.

Things couldn't get any better than this.

A year has passed by since the party, the crew was still happy and satisfied. Morale was at an all time high. Warp core could be doing a little better but still managing at Warp 9. News of an engagement between Crewman Melissa Higgins and Ensign Darren Le Marr ran through the ship. Max Dawson was doing well blending into the intrepid crew, taking the engineering station on the bridge when a red alert is called. 

A message then rang out in the corridors.

"Janeway to all hands, red alert. Battle stations, and brace for impact."

The ship shook, people were thrown onto the walls and floors causing minor cuts and bruises.

It seemed Voyager, had engaged…

The Borg

_No, not again. NO. NO!_  he thought.


	4. borg

Something similar to the eps Dark Frontier. Please review. This is my first fan fic.

=/\=

A familiar green beam washed over the ship. Then a voice.

"We are borg, you will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." The voice was unfeeling, blank and mechanical. 

"Like hell we will." Said Janeway "Tuvok, torpedoes, full spread, fire at will."

Tuvok was already preparing as Janeway was ordering. 

"Firing." The Vulcan waited for the report to come in. "Minimal damage to the borg vessel. Shields are at 60%." 

The ship rocked again. Conduits exploded sending officers flying everywhere.

"Captain!" yelled Max over the commotion "I've found something. Tuvok! Aim torpedoes at these coordinates." 

Tuvok looked to the Captain. She nodded, giving him the permission to do so. "Firing"

On the screen, there were explosions on the borg ship, rendering the ship dead in the water. Therefore buying time for Voyager to get out of there. 

Janeway tapped her commbadge. "Senior staff to the conference room."

He swallowed. I need to get out of here. Now. He considered taking one of the escape pods and leaving but it won't take him anywhere and he refused to take the one of the shuttlecrafts because Voyager may need it one day. He was left with one choice. Stay. He closed his eyes. A blinding flash. _A little boy ran before him, he was laughing. The tall corn stalks surrounds him they slowly morph into Borg. The bright sky and fluffy clouds turned into dark and stormy skies. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He sees a scalpel--- _

"MAX!" someone shouted. He opens his eyes to a worried Captain and the entire bridge crew staring at him. Max blinks trying to get the images out. 

"Are you alright?" Dawson could see that she was worried. He wondered what happened. _Did I zone out again?_

"Yah. I'm fine. Sorry. What were you saying?"

"Lt. Torres believes that we can get their transwarp device and shed 5 years off our journey. Since you're our resident specialist on warp technologies, what do you think?"

"That's a good idea. If the transwarp device is damaged though, it's probably going to shave about 2-3 years off. What do you suggest we do?"

"I propose we go in and get it and get out."

"Captain, that's dangerous! The borg will assimilate the away team and---" Tom argued

"It's a dangerous mission but with the right people, we can pull it off."

"Who's going to be on the away team then?" Chakotay asked.

"I'm going to lead the away team and—" Janeway said. Immediately, protests from everyone started up. Captain raised her hands. "No buts. Others on the away team are Lt. Torres, Lt. Tuvok and Cmdr. Dawson. I've picked them specifically because of their expertise. Training starts in 3 hours. Understood?"

No one said a word.

"Good. We'll have one hour before the borg detects an intruder alert with Seven's parent's help. Let's get cracking. Dismissed."

Without a word, they all left the conference room, one by one. They all knew it would work but it involved too much risk. Even Janeway knew that. It proves her confidence in the crew. Wherever she went, they will follow. 

=/\=

They got training down pat and they arrived at the Transporter Room, a phase rifle in hand, a phaser in the pocket, Bio-dampener on the right arm. At 0905, they beamed out. **Time remaining, 3 minutes.**

=/\=

The team maneuvered around the corridors cautiously, glancing at every borg that they passed by. Their memorization of the borg ship helped them. Max brought down forcefields with different decryption codes he learned back at the academy. Then, they were into the engine room. **Time remaining: 2 minutes**

=/\=

"Report!" Chakotay barked

"It's still the same as when you asked 30 minutes ago Commander." Harry said, "I still have the transporter lock on the away team, the borg ship's not done being repaired yet, our sensors are still limited to short range, shields are at 40%"

"We can go to warp 4 only, Lt. Carey's still fixing the core." Tom reported. 

**Time remaining: 1 minute**

=/\=

"How's it going over there?" Janeway asked softly to Torres and Dawson.

"We're just about done Captain. Just another minute…" Torres replied

"We don't have a minute B'Elanna, we've got 30 seconds then we're going back to the transport site."

"Got it!" Max yelled

"Let's move!"

**Time remaining: 16 seconds**

=/\=

**Time Remaining: 0 minutes**

_"Intruder detected. Grid 46 alpha"_

=/\=

"Captain, we've been detected." Tuvok said calmly.

In seconds borg drones surrounded the away team. Then a melodic cold voice voice rang out in the air.

"Captain Janeway, nice to see you again." With one look up, Janeway could see her. The head and shoulders of the borg queen. The snake coils attached to her shoulders taking her down to the mechanical body. 

B'Elanna, Tuvok and Janeway pointed their rifles at her with apprehension. 

"Ah and Max. How are you Max?" The queen asked

"I've been better."

"Still having the dreams?"

"It's none of your business."

Janeway looks at Max. Clearly, he's encountered her before. But why didn't he tell me?

"Your Captain doesn't understand does she?" the queen pressed on. "You didn't tell her did you?"

"I said it's none of your business."

"Very well then." The queen closed her eyes and called out to a drone. He answered. Slowly, he moves towards the queen. "Remember him?"

Shaken, Max swallowed the lump that was inside his throat. A blinding flash. _NO! Not again. A voice. _

_"Max! Help me!" _

_"Max why didn't you help me?" _

_"Max!" _

_NO. I want to help you. Stay with me! _

_"Help!" A blur of voices passed through._

"NO!" Dawson screamed.

"Max! That's your brother!" Janeway exclaimed


End file.
